Still here: reflections on later life + Music | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/michele-hanson-certain-age+education/music
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Music in schools will soon be extinct – and the government is cluelesshttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/17/music-in-schools-will-soon-be-extinct-and-the-government-is-clueless
Arts Council England has slashed funding for smaller venues. Music should be accessible to everyone – to hear and to play, and keep us sane<br /><br />• Michele Hanson is a Guardian columnist<p>An elderly actor once told me she was hanging on to life only because she wanted to be here when Arts Council England (Ace) collapsed. She didn’t make it, but she would have been furious this week because it has decided not to fund the Music Venue Trust, which supports small live music&nbsp;venues.</p><p>Not that Ace doesn’t fund music. It does, but mainly the grander sort&nbsp;– opera and classical music,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/15/grassroots-music-venues-face-closure-as-funding-bid-fails?CMP=twt_gu" title=""> which get 85% of its money</a>. Lovely that it cares about “high” culture, but perhaps it hasn’t quite understood that music should be for everyone&nbsp;– “high” and “low”&nbsp;– to hear and to play, and keep us&nbsp;sane.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/17/music-in-schools-will-soon-be-extinct-and-the-government-is-clueless">Continue reading...</a>Arts Council EnglandMusicLife and styleMusicMon, 17 Jul 2017 11:29:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/17/music-in-schools-will-soon-be-extinct-and-the-government-is-cluelessPhotograph: Hero Images/Getty Images/Hero ImagesPhotograph: Hero Images/Getty Images/Hero ImagesMichele Hanson2017-07-17T11:29:04ZMusic is a lifesaver. Every child should have a chance to playhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/14/music-school-system-government-orchestra-education
<p>The US is making music a core subject in schools, while in Britain the system is in tatters. Instead of a divisive, stultifying curriculum, our government should encourage collaboration, creativity and responsibility with orchestras</p><p>It isn’t always clever to follow the example of Americans. They love guns, their steaks are too big, they fought against free healthcare, they’re more or less obliged to say their prayers, and <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/12/11/9894072/donald-trump-muslims-poll" title="">a frightening number of them admire Donald Trump</a>. But when it comes to music in schools, they are streets ahead of us. Because their Senate has just approved the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/us/politics/senate-approves-overhaul-of-no-child-left-behind-law.html?emc=edit_cn_20151210&amp;nl=first-draft&amp;nlid=56430841&amp;te=1&amp;_r=1" title="">Every Student Succeeds Act</a>, which will reduce over-testing, return power to local districts, and make music a core subject. Yes, music!</p><p>No such luck here, with endless testing, teachers leaving in droves and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-importance-of-music-a-national-plan-for-music-education" title="">National Plan for Music Education</a> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/2015/oct/01/music-education-how-young-people-learn-exams" title="">in tatters</a>. It promised that every child would learn a musical instrument. Fat chance. Try taking a child out of class for 15 minutes nowadays for an individual music lesson, as we used to in the 70s. They would miss some swotting for a test or wreck a target – and, anyway, what would the child play and how would they learn? What school could pay for instruments and one-to-one tuition? How could they ever build up an orchestra, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/17/cuts-to-music-education-funding-classical" title="">for poor as well as rich</a>?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/14/music-school-system-government-orchestra-education">Continue reading...</a>EducationLife and styleMusicUS educationMon, 14 Dec 2015 15:00:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/14/music-school-system-government-orchestra-educationPhotograph: Glow Images, Inc/Getty Images/Glow RMPhotograph: Glow Images, Inc/Getty Images/Glow RMMichele Hanson2015-12-14T15:00:37ZIs it time to open my home as a museum and become a living exhibit?https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/03/cursive-writing-music-education-museums
<p>Everything I like is fading away – cursive writing, Yardley lavender products, the bassoon – so maybe I should put my life on show. ‘This is what it was like in ancient times’, the visitors will say</p><p>Bad news. The bassoon is dying out. And the viola, French horn and oboe. Soon, we won’t have any orchestras left. Thank you, successive idiotic governments, for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/apr/16/school-music-services-hubs-privatisation" title="">sidelining music in schools</a>. Now look what’s happened. A <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/01/save-the-bassoon-campaign-endangered-instrument" title="">Save the Bassoon campaign</a> has started, but I’m still beginning to panic.</p><p>So many things I like are fading away, all much more important than the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/27/paper-discs-road-tax" title="">paper tax discs I moaned about last week</a>. Now <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/finnish-schools-phase-out-handwriting-classes-keyboard-skills-finland" title="">Finland is phasing out cursive writing lessons</a>: America’s been doing it for years, and we always weedily copy them, so it will be us next. And our insects are dying out. Goodbye leaf beetles, various moths and invertebrates, food chain and us.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/03/cursive-writing-music-education-museums">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleMusicMuseumsCultureMon, 03 Aug 2015 12:19:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/03/cursive-writing-music-education-museumsPhotograph: H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStoc/Getty ImagesPhotograph: H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStoc/Getty ImagesMichele Hanson2015-08-03T12:19:18ZI can't imagine Michael Gove dancinghttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/sep/24/cant-imagine-michael-gove-dancing
People in this country love music, but the education minister's cuts mean that soon precious few of us will be able to enjoy playing, singing or dancing<p>I try hard to imagine Mr Gove in the throes of bliss, passion, excitement, empathy, self-expression, emotion, sensitivity, creativity and fun, but I cannot. I suspect it's because he doesn't seem to give a toss about music. There won't be much room left for it in his nth total upheaval of the exam system and his <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/sep/17/gcse-exams-replaced-ebacc-michael-gove" title="">Ebacc</a>. It's not just me tearing my hair out at the squeezing out of the subject that encourages multiple skills and virtues, including even Gove's favourites: rigour, co-operation, concentration and strict discipline. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/sep/23/michael-gove-ebacc-destroy-creative-education" title="">Famous musicians and music teachers are also panicking.</a></p><p>Perhaps I've got him wrong. Perhaps Gove has the odd dance himself, perhaps he has heart and soul and even plays an instrument. The trouble is, he doesn't seem to care whether everyone else has a chance or not. And they need and want one.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/sep/24/cant-imagine-michael-gove-dancing">Continue reading...</a>EducationMusicEducation policySchoolsLife and stylePoliticsMichael GoveMon, 24 Sep 2012 20:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/sep/24/cant-imagine-michael-gove-dancingMichele Hanson2012-09-24T20:00:03Z